1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention is vehicle safety devices for preventing animate and inanimate objects from being crushed or damaged by the wheels or chassis of the vehicle upon which the safety device is incorporated.
2. Scope and Content of the Prior Art
For many years automotive vehicles have been a primary means of transporting individuals in many metropolitan areas. Buses have been used with great success as a means of mass transit in these metropolitan areas. Additionally, heavy, wheeled vehicles have been used for myriad industrial applications throughout the years.
With this advent of buses and other heavy wheeled vehicles, a problem has arisen. These vehicles, especially buses in metropolitan areas, cause injury to individuals and objects. Many of the most serious of these injuries are a result of individuals being run over by the vehicle. Injuries often occur when the wheel or chassis of the vehicle travels over an individual who has slipped and fallen in the road, crushing a limb or other body part of an individual as the weight of the vehicle is applied to the individual. Analogously, inanimate objects in the path of the wheels may also be crushed.
Similarly, injuries also occur when buses drive close to a curb and an individual has stepped off the curb before the bus has passed the individual. In this scenario, the wheels of the bus travel over the individual's foot, squashing the foot, causing severe pain and injury to the hapless pedestrian.
Further injuries can occur when individuals exit from a bus. Sometimes individuals slip as they depart from the bus and in an attempt to regain balance, grab the wheel of the bus, placing a hand or arm in the gap between the wheel and wheel well of the bus. When the bus starts moving, the individual's arm or hand is propelled along in the direction of the rotation of the moving wheel. Typically the individual's arm or hand is caught between the wheel and wheel well and is severely lacerated or mangled. If the individual is unfortunate enough not to have pulled his hand or arm away soon enough, the hand or arm may also be thrust to the ground in the path of the oncoming wheel. When the wheel travels over the hand or arm, the hand or arm is crushed by the wheel.
The liability incurred by municipalities for these types of injuries can run into the millions of dollars each year. Thus, there is a need for a reliable, effective, safety device that will prevent or minimize these types of injuries.
Various types of safety devices have been proposed by the prior art. For example, United States patents, (Emi) U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,244, (Gutman) U.S. Pat. No. 4,076,295, (Pearson) U.S. Pat. No. 4,093,290, (Lucchini-Kramer) U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,632 describe front guard devices that may be effective in minimizing injury to pedestrians who are walking upright in front of a moving vehicle. However, these devices do not provide protection for individuals who may be lying on the ground below the level of the front bumper of the vehicle. Neither do they provide protection for individuals who may have an arm or hand that gets caught between the wheel and wheel well of a vehicle.
Other devices, such as those disclosed in United States patents, (Pearson-Mitchell) U.S. Pat. No. 3,584,898, (Wilfert-Gotz) U.S. Pat. No. 3,784,226, (Morris) U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,129, (Logan) U.S. Pat. No. 4,169,608, (Laine) U.S. Pat. No. 4,378,120, describe coverings for tires and fenders. However, these devices do not suggest the safety features provided in the present invention. Further, these devices do not suggest combining the wheel coverings with safety features to prevent injury to individuals that may have fallen in front of a vehicle.
Therefore, a need was perceived for a safe, effective, reliable, and relatively inexpensive safety barrier that will protect individuals lying in the path of an oncoming vehicle as well as individuals who might cause a hand or arm to get caught between a wheel and wheel well of a vehicle.